Mana
by FullMetal Alchemistress
Summary: A level 4 akuma that resembles Mana knocks Allen Walker into a coma. Desperate, Komui calls for back up--Cross's sister and her team of three exorcists. Summary and Title subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

--Chapter 1--

**A/N: Should not be starting a new fic. But this was already written so I'm like "Why not?!"**

--Chapter 1--

--ALLEN POV--

I heard the screech before I saw it. The sound seemed familiar, yet foreign. I spun on my heels and came face to face with it.

"Allen!" I heard Lenalee scream from somewhere behind the akuma. But I couldn't move. My blood froze in my veins and my eyes were wide. I was afraid. I was truly scared. Especially when I saw its face. That face. That face was the one that had started everything. It was the reason I joined the Black Order in the first place…

Mana.

There I stood, face to face with a level four akuma who was wearing the face of my beloved Mana. And I felt utterly defenseless.

"Move, Allen!" Someone screamed too late. I was flying through the air. The blow to my stomach hadn't caught up to me yet. Even after I hit the wall with a sickening crunch.

Waves of people called my name as members of the Black Order stormed the hallway. I could barely pick out Lenalee and Lavi—I was too angry. This creature had stolen the face of Mana and attacked me. He would not leave this world unscathed.

With a scream of pain and anger, I launched myself off the wall while invoking my innocence once again. Lenalee was right behind me with her dark boots, surging ahead of me at unimaginable speeds.

"Hasn't been long since the level fours started showing up," Lavi commented when he joined my side. I looked at him and noted his scratches and cuts, way too many for having only been fighting for a few minutes.

"Yeah," I replied. "But this is the second one to attack us from within." The first one had evolved to a level four so fast. I was unprepared, much like this instance. Except for one key difference: I had experience with them. I may not have gotten stronger since I fought them, but I knew what they could do. "Where's Master?" I wondered.

"Allen! Look o—" But Lavi's warning went unfinished as I felt something pierce me; I gasped from the sudden hit. My eyes trailed up from the blackened, spear-like arm that had impaled my abdomen.

"Mana…" He threw my body like a rag doll and I hit the brick wall with a hard, loud crash. I felt the wall collapse on top of me, but there was nothing I could do. I was pinned and weakened. I gasped for air and felt the load on my chest lighten, brick by brick. Beyond the sounds of the bricks shifting, I heard gunshots. Distant bangs that began to fade.

My eyes shut; I was too weak to hold them open any longer. I heard murmurs of people calling my name.

"Allen!" I heard Lenalee's desperate voice.

"Hey, help me get him out of there!" the voices began to seem hollow and I tried to open my eyes, but the vision that they revealed made me wince.

Lavi's bloody face and Lenalee's tear-filled eyes blocked out anything else.

"Allen," Lenalee whimpered. It broke my heart to see her like this. I failed her, I realized. I had promised to protect everyone. Lavi was hurt and I made Lenalee cry. I may not be able to heal Lavi, I thought, but I can try to get Lenalee to stop crying.

I attempted a smile, ignoring the sharp pains that came along with it. "I'll be okay," I tried to say, but it came out distorted and I, myself, could barely understand it. Soon enough people were bustling around me, shouts of orders. The gunfire stopped and I heard Master come up next to me.

"What have you done to yourself now, you Idiot Apprentice…" he muttered, poking and prodding at my scratches and bruises. I cried out, unwillingly in pain, when someone nudged my leg.

But the sounds around me grew distant and hollow and my vision blurred. I couldn't hear the voices anymore, but as my eyes shut, I saw Lenalee burst into another round of tears. The last thing I felt before I left all consciousness was guilt.

Guilt for making Lenalee cry. Guilt for not protecting everyone. Guilt for not even being able to protect myself.

Guilt for being weak against the Akuma with the face of Mana.

--

**Review or no more…**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

**A/N: Thank you SO much for the reviews! And Reader4Lyfe, read the manga first. Sandy got done with it in a day or two. It's AMAZING. You will like it…**

--Chapter 2--

--ALLEN POV--

The first thing I was aware of was the beeping. The steady _ba-beep! _Rang consistently through my ears.

The second was that I wasn't alone. I heard the shifting of fabric as someone adjusted and then turned the page of a book.

I opened my eyes and looked around. The last thing I had honestly expected to see was my right leg in a sling hanging from the ceiling. But there it was, white and bulky.

"And so he awakes at last," a voice mumbled to my left. I looked over to see a brunette in torn jeans and a sweatshirt looking back at me with large, hazel eyes. She hand a thumb in her novel and hand one hand under her chin, her elbows on the armrests of the plastic chair.

"'At last'?" I croaked, my voice thick and raspy. "Who are you?" I asked the girl.

The strange woman placed her book on the table beside and gathered her hair behind her neck, French braiding it as she identified herself. "Usually I go by Kimberly, but there are some cases where I've acquired ridiculous nicknames." She scowled for a minute and I began to wonder whether I really wanted to know what those nicknames were.

She tied and elastic around the end of her braid and dragged a hand along the ridge on the back of her head and I noticed the gloves for the first time. The black motorcycle gloves barely came past her wrists, but the bandages under them came halfway up her arm.

"You don't look like a member of the Black Order," I noted quietly.

She laughed and glanced at her clothing. "Yeah, I really don't. But that's because when I arrived here a week and half ago, my uniform was in really bad shape." She seemed to get excited. "Komui is having someone redesign a new one. It's going to be awesome in battle. It'll be really great for my innocence!" Her perkiness made me smile. Easily excited.

The door behind her opened and Lavi took a step in. "Allen! You're awake!"

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked hesitantly.

"Man," Kimberly laughed. "You've been out like a rock for three straight weeks!" I stared at her wide-eyed as Lavi pulled up a similar plastic chair next to hers.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Lenalee blames herself. It was really depressing to be around anyone from the science department, too. No one could figure out why you wouldn't wake up."

"Everyone was saying it was as if you'd gone to sleep and just wouldn't wake up."

"What was Matron saying about it?" I asked. I wasn't in much pain. Just a bit uncomfortable. Small movements ached in my stomach so I tried to remain as still as humanly possible, and there was this throbbing ache on the side of my head. And seeing my leg broken, I was surprised that it didn't hurt.

"Other than the obvious broken leg and a few cuts and bruises, you had a slight concussion and that puncture wound in your stomach was a pain in the ass to close up. It damaged an organ or two—you won't be getting up for another day or two at least—and you'll definitely be out of commission for three weeks or more. I think this may be the first time you've gotten hurt and your arm is okay." He ended jokingly.

I glanced at the arm that lay limply at my side. Sighing with relief that I hadn't lied to Lenalee after all—I would be okay…in time.

"Do you…" I hesitated, staring up at the white ceiling. "Do you think Lenalee is mad at me?" I felt a pinch behind my eyes and I draped my right arm overtop of my eyes so that they couldn't see me crying. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pleaded for the tears to stop and go away.

"Allen!" Kimberly yelled, appalled, jumping out of her chair. She reached over, threw my arm off my face, and grabbed my chin, startling me, tilting my head toward her. "Listen to me carefully. Lenalee has nothing to be mad at you for! If she's even a little bit peeved, I'll beat the hell out of her!" She pulled her hand away suddenly and began to storm out of the room. "You're on guard duty now, Lavi. I'll go tell Matron he's awake…" she muttered, slamming the door behind her.

"Is she always like that?" I asked quietly.

"Pretty much," Lavi mumbled. "But she's right. Lenalee has nothing to be mad at you for. You did nothing wrong. Don't worry—it's not good for your health."

I sighed and rolled my head so that I was staring at the ceiling.

"You saw that face, didn't you?" I asked with doubt. I couldn't get the image of that akuma out of my head. It was terrorizing me.

"It was just another level four, Allen. The most human-looking akuma, but an akuma nonetheless."

"No," I disagreed. "It had Mana's face. It looked like Mana…" I'm so weak, I thought, fighting back tears again. "Why did it have his face?" I whispered to myself, trying to depict a nonexistent code.

The beeping picked up speed and Allen winced.

"Alright," Matron demanded. "Out, Lavi. He's awake. No more need for guard duty."

"Sure," he muttered before taking leave. He paused by the door, waiting for the monitor to slow back to normal as I calmed down. "Allen, akuma deceive. Forget what you saw…"

**--**

**PLEASE review!**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

**A/N: Eek! This is the last chapter that I have pre-typed! Oh nos! Well, school starts in two hours, but I'll be located in the Auditorium the entire day because I refuse to wear SMOD (Standard Mode of Dress) which consists of Khaki's and polo's of blue, white, black, and orange only. Oh yeah, very creative.**

--Chapter 3--

--ALLEN POV--

I pulled a sweater over my head before grabbing the crutches that lay next to me and heading for the door. The bulky white cast on my leg was hard to maneuver with, but I could handle it.

I counted in my head; one, two, three days I'd been awake and Lenalee hadn't even come to see me. She _was _mad, I was afraid. Again, I was weak. But this was a little miniscule matter that could easily be overcome.

I proceeded down the hall, aimlessly traveling throughout the building. I hadn't the slightest where she was, but if I found Komui, he was sure to know. So I headed for the science department.

As soon as I got through the doors, I was nearly killed in a stampede. But the people weren't trying to get _past_ me, they were trying to get _to_ me.

"Allen!" One would think I had actually been dead.

"Welcome back, Allen." I looked up to see Komui, his hand outstretched to me. I took his hand and allowed him to lift me off the ground. Steadying myself in his hand, I carefully grabbed the crutches that were being offered to me.

"Have you seen Lenalee anywhere?" I asked. My stomach twisted.

"She's down with Hevlaska," he informed me. "Head down there, too. I'll send Kimberly and Erin down as well. We need to identify their innocence."

As confused as I was, I nodded and began to go where I was told. My heart jumped to my throat when, as I made my way down to Hevlaska, I realized I had nothing planned. I didn't know what to say when I did see Lenalee. Would I apologize? Would I beg for forgiveness?

The last memory I have of seeing her, she was in tears. And I lied to her. I couldn't believe myself. How was I supposed to keep up my other promise to keep everyone safe when I couldn't even keep _myself_ safe? I couldn't stop kicking myself. Just because it had that face, I shouldn't have been beaten so badly. I'm stronger than that. I know I am.

I looked up when a familiar voice called me and I saw Kimberly and a blond girl standing a few feet in front of me.

"Oh," I said with surprise. "You're here for Hevlaska."

"Yup!" the blond said cheerfully. "Apparently, our skills have never been seen before. Komui wants Hevlaska to check us out."

"Oh, that sounds dirty," Kimberly muttered to the other girl. "Oh, Allen! This is my teammate, Erin. Erin-face, this is Allen."

Balancing the crutch against my side, I reached out to shake hands with Erin.

"We'd better get in there," Kimberly muttered. "I wanna get this over with quickly." Her voice sounded to me like she was scared…I had to be imagining things.

I sucked in a breath and hobbled through the door on my crutches, afraid of what may await me beyond them. Like a magnet, my eyes scanned the room and then stopped when they found Lenalee, turned away, facing Hevlaska.

"Hey, Allen! How're ya feeling?" Lavi called as I neared them. Lenalee turned around at the sound of my name and I sighed with relief when she grinned.

"I'm doing better."

"Allen!" Kimberly cried in excitement.

"God, Kimmy-face! Shut up!" Erin laughed, pushing her playfully. The two got into a near fist-fight, but they were…laughing the entire time…creepy…

"What?" Kimberly asked innocently when they were pulled apart. "I just wanted to get excited!"

Lenalee walked up to me slowly and I could have sworn my heart stopped, and then kicked up speed—ten-fold. She wrapped her arms loosely around my waist.

"Are you going to be okay, Allen? I was so worried," she whispered.

I chuckled. "I told you I was going to be fine," I assured her.

"Aww," Kimberly swooned.

"I see a love connection; do you, Kimmy-face?" Erin responded.

"I sure do!"

I blushed. "N-no! It's not like that!" Komui would have my hide….I sighed in frustration. People didn't get it. Was that how my relationship with Lenalee seemed? Because honestly, it wasn't like that. She was a dear friend, a comrade.

"Okay, who's next?" Lavi asked, gesturing the Hevlaska.

Kimberly stumbled back a few steps and stared up at her, horrified. She lifted a shaky arm and pointed. "W-w-what is t-that?"

"Aw." I moved next to her and reached out to lower her arm. "That's Hevlaska. She's the guardian of the innocence we collect. She won't hurt you, I promise."

"You go first!" Erin exclaimed, pushing Kimberly against her will, toward Hevlaska, who reached out an promptly picked up the skittish exorcist.

Kimberly screamed.

**-x-x-x-x-**

**Review??**


	4. Chapter 4

This is for this thing that told me to update

**This is for this thing that told me to update. It was on my couch and I was all like "OMG! WTF!?" and it was like "You need to –quack- update your –quack--twitch- DGM fanfic!" so I was like "OKAY!"**

**BLAME THE ORANGE JUICE!**

**Oh, and anyone here watch the anime? THE ENDING SUCKED MONKEY ASS!  
We can only PRAY the manga will end better…**

**Here's a riddle:  
What do InuYasha, One Piece, and D.Gray-Man have in common?  
(Marchen Awakens Romance cannot answer this.)**

-x-x-x-x-

Disclaimer

-x-x-x-x-

--Chapter 4--  
--Allen's POV--

Kimberly winced as Hevlaska removed her gloves and began to unwind the bandages from her arms. I stared at her arms, charred from her fingertips to an inch or two pas her wrist.

"Syncro rate," Hevlaska murmured, forcing Kimberly's nails to elongate until they were a foot long, "89 percent."

"Wow. Is that her innocence?" Allen muttered to Erin.

"Yup. Call 'em—" Erin was cut off my Kimberly who was quickly trying to rebandage her arms on the floor by her feet.

"They're called Princess Extensions—don't ask, I was little and into the whole Rapunzel thing," she huffed.

"Shut up," Erin laughed. "You got those the same time you were obsessed with Emilie Autumn's 'Rapunzel' song."

Kimberly smacked Erin in the back of the head, and she retaliated by poking her in the side—hard.

"Whore," Kimberly yelled.

"Loser," Erin rebutted.

"Jerk."

"Fag."

"I love you," Kimberly grinned.

"You and Gregory still hanging out?"

"Nah, I had to wash him off my arm. Besides, Gregory is bipolar…"

"That's what I meant!" Erin growled, annoyed that Kimberly wasn't getting the joke.

"Kimberly, Erin," a strong, female voice called them.

"General Cross," Kimberly saluted and Erin burst into laughter at her oh-so-serious face.

I was beyond confused. That wasn't General Cross, but to say that she didn't look anything like him would be lying. She had the same mask, but it covered her left eye, and her bright red hair hung in gentle curls to her shoulders.

"Allen, this is our Master, General Cross," Kimberly introduced.

She smiled. "So this is my brother's apprentice."

"Brother?" I shook her outstretched hand.

She chuckled. "I didn't suspect he would mention me. I'm his older sister, Kristen. I haven't seen him in a year or so."

"Actually, he's staying at the Order right now, he should be around somewhere," Allen told her. "Or, at least, that's what I was told the other day. I haven't seen him since before I fell into a coma." Wow, had I just said that like being in a coma was nothing? I'm losing my mind…

"Is he now…" she chuckled darkly and both Kimberly and Erin shivered.

"We'll just be going," Erin said and Kimberly pushed me out of the door.

"That was our crazy General, Kris-Cross." She burst out laughing.

-x-x-x-x-

**I know, short. Deal with it and complain to me in a review.**


	5. Chapter 5

What's up everybody?!

So, summer is here and alas! It is my last summer as a high schooler! Despite a D in English 11, I have been promoted to the 12th grade.

-clears throat-

'**10!!**

Okay, now on to business. Summer is here and other than work, the dentist, Elite Dance Team Try-outs, getting blood work done, and AP Art and English homework, I'm going to be bored this summer. And since a lot of my stories haven't been updated in months, I've got a lot of ideas for most of them, I just don't know which one to update first. Or which one still has readers.

Your choices are:

The Female Dog Demon (InuYasha)  
A New Life Elsewhere (InuYasha AU)  
Missing (Maximum Ride)  
Tourniquet (Twilight/Supernatural Crossover)  
Sacrifiction  
Dusk  
Mana  
Cardinal Points  
FullMetal Alchemist and the Spirit Detective  
The Roll of Two  
Publish "Fiorei" a Winx Club fic  
Publish "Tsubasa" a FFVII fic  
Publish "Do Good" a YGO GX fic

Even though Dusk is on the poll, I PROBABLY won't write more, just re-write it since the original co author is no longer a friend of mine. (After the re-write I'll write more)

(Seeing this just shows me how ADD I can be about writing stories XD)

You have until the end of the weekend ish (probably longer) to vote.

ATTENTION TO ALL WHO READ SACRIFICTION!:: I still haven't decided if I'm going to continue or not. If I get enough votes, I will. If not, tough shit. I don't like Twilight much anymore…

So…GO VOTE ON THE POLL LOCATED ON MY PROFILE IF YOU WANT A STORY TO BE UPDATED!!

DO NOT REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!  
DO NOT REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!  
DO NOT REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!  
DO NOT REVIEW THIS CHAPTER!


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